Officiating

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Rules of Ultimate

The purpose of the rules of Ultimate is to provide a guideline describing the way the game is played. It assumed that no Ultimate player will intentionally violate the rules; thus there are no harsh penalties for inadvertent infractions, but rather a method for resuming play in a manner that simulates what would most likely have occurred had there been no infraction.

In Ultimate, an intentional foul is considered cheating and a gross offense against the spirit of sportsmanship. Often a player is in a position where it is clearly to a player's advantage to foul or commit some infraction, but that player is morally bound to abide by the rules. The integrity of Ultimate depends on each player's responsibility to uphold the spirit of the game, and this responsibility should not be taken lightly.

The following changes have been approved for use in the 2014 College, Youth, and Club Series:

End zone Size - End zone length will be shortened to 20 yards. This change allows for consistency with WFDF rules used in international competition and increases the number of field sites that can be used for ultimate.

Contact Call - If contact occurs between the thrower and marker that would constitute a foul under XVI.H.3.a but the thrower does not release the disc, "contact" may be called. Play does not stop and the marker resumes the stall count at "one". Other than resetting the stall count to "one" after the first instance, the "contact" call is treated as any other marking violation. The marker may contest the "contact" call by calling "violation", which stops play. If the thrower calls "contact" after beginning the throwing motion and subsequently releases the disc, it is treated as if the thrower called "foul".

Ultimate in 10 Simple Rules

The Field: A rectangular shape with end zones at each end. A regulation field is 70 yards by 40 yards, with end zones 25 yards deep.

Initiate Play: Each point begins with both teams lining up on the front of their respective end zone line. The defense throws ("pulls") the disc to the offense. A regulation game has seven players per team.

Scoring: Each time the offense completes a pass in the defense's end zone, the offense scores a point. Play is initiated after each score.

Movement of the Disc: The disc may be advanced in any direction by completing a pass to a teammate. Players may not run with the disc. The person with the disc ("thrower") has ten seconds to throw the disc. The defender guarding the thrower ("marker") counts out the stall count.

Change of Possession: When a pass is not completed (e.g. out of bounds, drop, block, interception, stalled), the defense immediately takes possession of the disc and becomes the offense.

Substitutions: Players not in the game may replace players in the game after a score and during an injury timeout.

Non-contact: No physical contact is allowed between players. Picks and screens are also prohibited. A foul occurs when contact is made.

Fouls: When a player initiates contact on another player a foul occurs. When a foul disrupts possession, the play resumes as if the possession was retained. If the player committing the foul disagrees with the foul call, the play is redone.

Self-Officiating: Players are responsible for their own foul and line calls. Players resolve their own disputes.

Spirit of the Game: Ultimate stresses sportsmanship and fair play. Competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of respect between players, adherence to the rules, and the basic joy of play.

Experimental Events

In order to help further develop and refine the sport of Ultimate, USA Ultimate is committed to experimenting with rules and rules implementation at its own events and in partnership with other event organizers. Tournaments where these experiments take place allow players, organizers, and USA Ultimate officials a way to assess a variety of innovations and ideas in a setting that provides both support for implementation of changes and a process for feedback on and analysis of their impacts. The goal of this initiative is the improvement of the sport in a structured manner that encourages educated discussion and decision-making that is in line with the organization's mission.